(A/N: I own nothing of WCW/WWE/ECW ECT. Reviews, comments, & feedback keep me encouraged. Please keep any feedback coming, even if I don't reply be sure I do read them all.
A/N #2: OK this is Slash. If you don't know it is MxM pairing. Don't like it or it not your thing feel free to go pick another story. Please REVIEW.)
John finished his breakfast, touched by how supportive his cousin and Jamal were being. "I'm actually pretty surprised that I haven't gotten a call yet from the company. I know the fallout has to be a bitch right now. The face of their company outed has got to be big news."
"Maybe they are more supportive than you think, Cuz...times have changed."
"Maybe. I hope so." John answered as he went to rinse his plate. "I'm thinking maybe I should call Hunter before Raw and see how things are going."
"What every ye think tis best, Johnny."
"Yeah, Cuz…I am sure they heard, Did they know?"
"Yeah, they know." Randy told him. "Most are cool with 'alternate' lifestyles as long as it isn't thrown in their face. God, I hate the fucking term."
"Well, no use putting it off." John pulled out his phone and headed to his upstairs bedroom for privacy. There was no use at trying to hide from the truth. Randy and Sheamus exchanged looks debating if they should follow after him or not. They both shook their heads and returned to eating.
"Well!?" Marc yelled almost asked.
"We will be here when he is done..."
"Aye if he felt he needed our support while he made his call he would of asked."
John sat on his bed and dialed Hunter's number. He waited for an answer, feeling very nervous. "Hunter, this is John. I'm sure you've heard by now that info from Randy's phone was leaked...Yes, Sir, I understand. Yes, Sir, I know that it's out of your hands what Mr. McMahon decides...Yes, I can do that. Thank you, Sir. Goodbye." John's shoulders slumped as he covered his face in his hands, despair taking over his body. He had known that Hunter would be upset at the leak but he had never expected Vince to react so strongly. The older chairman had seen the publicity as bad for a family oriented program especially with John being the face of the company. He had been told that some of the texts had been rather racy. It looked bad on the company as John was a role model for children.
Opening the web browser on his phone, John went to one of the sites to look at the texts on the chat log. He felt sick as he read some of his most personal texts open for the world to see. One read #Hey, Daddy. Waiting patiently for you. You know you could never resist my sexy ass. Yours.# John wanted to vomit. No wonder Vince thought he was bad for business. He sat in the silent room for awhile, reflecting on how he had dreamed of being a wrestler since childhood. Had he thrown it all away? John knew he had to go back downstairs, but he didn't want to face the four men's questioning eyes. Angry tears ran down his face at the thought of maybe losing the job he loved all just because he was in love with two men. It was unfair but a fact of life.
The guys had finished breakfast when Sheamus started to seem distracted, his focus no longer on the conversation around him. "Shea?" Randy called him one time he seemed slightly glassy eyed.
"Excuse me a moment." He got up, heading from the family room they had all moved to.
"Should I come?" Randy had a feeling John was the source of Sheamus' zoning out.
"Nay hopefully I'll just be a moment." He headed for the steps and up to the master suite, knocking lightly on the door. John heard the knock and wiped his eyes, trying to put on a calm demeanor.
"Come in." He answered from his spot on the bed. Sheamus walked in, shutting the door behind him.
"No need for the false bravado with me, Angel. What did they say?" He walked over, sitting on the bed next to John. He wrapped an arm around John's shoulders. "Remember ye need not weather this storm alone."
John nodded laying his head on Sheamus' shoulder. "I only talked to Hunter. He said that Vince wants a personal meeting with me as soon as possible. He said that Vince was very upset that the face of his company was exposed with such sexual texts. That he's sorry but whatever Vince decides to do to me is out of his hands now." John closed his eyes, the pain flooding his body. "I went on one of the sites, Shea. Some of the texts they got were so personal and intimate. I felt so violated that everyone could freely read them."
"Well as soon as possible...so call and see how soon he wants ye there, than we schedule us a flight out. Or if it is Stamford we can drive it...it's only a few hours..." Sheamus lightly rubbed John's arm. "We will get through this."
"Ok, I'll call now. It's just...what was I thinking? Those texts made me sound like the world's biggest slut. I should have known better than to send stuff like that over a phone with our job situation."
"Johnny...Angel...ye sent them thinking they would remain private...no one pictures something like this happening to them. Those sites had no right to publish those things...Now WWE as a company may have more power to order the reports to be taken down...maybe even use the courts to find out who gave it to them..." Sheamus was trying not to get himself enraged.
John nodded. "Maybe you're right." He looked in his contacts and placed the call. He held a short conversation with Vince and hung up the phone. "It's Stamford. I told him we could be there in a few hours being in my home town right now. I guess we'll have to get around. He sounded pretty distant with me." John sighed. "So much for our fun day off, huh?"
"It may not be proper for us to be in the meeting with ye...but ye still want us to ride with ye?" Sheamus moved to take John's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "Aye I know the information tis already out there...but if they can be removed it may help it become forgotten quicker. We all know how shocking news can be a flash in the pan and die out."
John kissed Sheamus' hand. "I'd like that, Baby. Although if you don't want to be outed too you both better be careful of how close you hang with me in public for awhile."
"We are still yer friends even if we are not outed as yer loves. We can ask Randy if he wishes to come or not. I am going though." He leaned in to kiss John's cheek. "Ye wish me to call him up?"
"If you don't mind, Sweets. You are the best." He gave his boyfriend a small smile.
Sheamus stood up, heading back to the family room, seeing Randy sitting alone watching TV. "Let me guess basement again?"
"Yep...what's up?"
"Can you come upstairs?"
"Ok." Randy shut off the TV heading upstairs. Sheamus went up with him, heading into the bedroom. "What's up BB?"
"Vince wants me to drive to Stamford for a meeting about the phone leak. Shea is going to ride along with me for company on the trip. If you want to you can ride along too. If not, it's cool." John attempted to keep his voice light and unconcerned. He had no idea why but he always felt the need to hide his emotions from his Viper. It was partly why they had been only friends with benefits for so long.
"I'll go, Baby." Randy sighed. "If there should be any repercussions...it shouldn't be against you. You shouldn't be reprimanded by your personal choices."
"Stop blaming yerself too, Fella...ye didn't ask for this to happen to yerself or Johnny..." Sheamus moved to his suitcase. "So I don't know of ye two...but I am getting changed and also packing shorts to go hit their gyms...I have no right to be in that meeting...I don't wish my presence there to cause any unneeded tension."
"Well I will dress right for it just in case...if Vince knows I am there he may wish to talk to me about it." Randy moved to his own suit case. John went to his clothes and picked out a nice pair of dress slacks and a button down shirt for the meeting. "I may hit the gyms too for a bit after the meeting, Shea. It will be good stress relief." He began to pull off his casual clothes he had on to replace them with the more dressy ones.
"Hmm guess we all can take a change..." Randy said.
"Well I am sure we can fit sparring clothing in one gym bag and I'll just take the bag with me." Sheamus suggested as he put on jeans and pulled on a fitted gray t-shirt.
John dressed carefully, feeling nervous about what was to come. He put on a pair of black dress socks and nice black leather shoes to go with his outfit. "Well, guess I'll run in the bathroom to shave and brush my teeth." John took off for the bathroom to make himself look presentable.
Sheamus walked to stand by the door. "Ye have a preference of car to take Angel or did ye want one of us to drive the rental?" With John's nerves on edge he didn't know if he really wanted John to drive.
John debated a minute. "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this but why don't one of you two drive the rental? I'm not feeling much like driving right now." He bent over to look into the mirror as he shaved carefully.
"That's fine, Angel."
"Hey BB...if we get back tonight...how about blowing some steam at the lake?" Randy called out.
"Sure, Ran! Sounds great. I love going to the lake!" John called back as he finished up. He splashed some after shave on his face and began to brush his teeth.
"Lake?" Sheamus wondered.
"Yeah, just a little spot John knows...most people are gone after sunset. If John still has a raft hiding somewhere we can paddle to a small place out in the water...I guess it would be called an island."
John finished brushing and walked back into the bedroom. "Yeah, I still have the raft. Wait until you see it, Sweets. It's so peaceful."
"Sounds nice and a good way to decompress after the storm we seem to be heading for." Sheamus tossed the gyms bag over his shoulder. "Ready when ye two are...did Vince give ye a time...or was it whenever yer arse arrives?"
"He said when I get there but I want this over with. I'm ready when you guys are. Uh...do you mind if I take back seat?" John wanted a little private time to gather his thoughts.
"I don't mind, Angel...whatever ye need to calm down."
"Which of us is driving?"
"Ye are." Sheamus left no room to debate the issue.
"Ok...well lets roll...do we need to leave Marc a note?"
"Yeah. I'll do it." John grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a quick note. "Let's go. I'll leave this for him on the fridge."
"Ok Then." Randy headed for the door, Sheamus waited to follow after John. Randy headed for rental and slipped into the drivers seat so he could program the GPS for the long drive.
John put the note on the fridge and looked at Sheamus. "Ready to go, Baby?"
"Aye, Angel." Sheamus gave John a quick kiss then headed out.
John walked to the rental and climbed into the back seat, getting comfortable for the long drive.
Randy waited for Sheamus to get buckled in after he threw the bag in the trunk. The ride was quiet to let John think. He knew none of them exactly agreed on music choices. John sat in silence until he could take it no longer. "Ran, would you turn the radio on? You can even put it on one of your rock stations. I don't care." He leaned his head against the glass window, trying to relax.
"Shea, how about you pick..."
"What so he can get pissed at me?" Sheamus tried to joke as he reached for the radio controls. He thought he found a compromise with a station; it was a lighter classic rock.
"Thanks, Babe." John closed his eyes, trying to let the music relax him. He let his mind drift to imagine a peaceful dream that Sheamus had shared with him once of the three of them on a nice picnic, no media or stress, just his two loves and the fresh air and sunshine. Sheamus took a slow cleansing breath as he felt John calm down.
"You ok, Shea?" Randy asked him.
"Aye..." Shea closed his own eyes, relaxing focusing on trying to keep John calm. It was about half way there when Randy said he had to pull off the expressway to fuel up. John opened his eyes at Randy's announcement.
"Ok, Ran. I may run inside and grab something cold to drink."
"Ok BB...next exit."
"I'm feeling better now, Shea." John told his boyfriend quietly. "I was thinking about your dream...the three of us on a nice picnic."
"What dream is this?" Randy asked.
"Relax it's nay any of the kinky things ye two come up with...just the three of us on a nice picnic...just able to enjoy and relax."
"Well, Johnny, can't we pack a small cooler with sandwiches and stuff to take out with us tonight...it may not be as romantic as Mr. Sap was thinking."
John smiled at Randy's idea. "I like that, Ran. Sounds like a great idea. As for Shea being Mr. Sap, I happen to love his romantic side."
"Thanks, Johnny." Sheamus told him opening his eyes as Randy was pulling into the station. Randy cut the engine, stepping out to begin fueling.
"You want something cold to drink, Sweets?" John asked as he prepared to go inside the station.
"Nay, I should be good..." Sheamus shook his head as he suddenly had an odd feeling. "Ye know what Angel…let me come in with ye." He got out of the passenger seat. "Ye want anything, Randy?"
"Yeah, a fresh coffee."
"Gotcha."
"I guess Ran needs the caffeine boost." John teased as they walked inside the station. "I just want a cold bottle of water."
"Sometimes I wonder if ye stuck him if it would be coffee in his veins instead of blood." Sheamus joked with John as they headed inside. He kept his eyes focused on people inside the place. He wasn't sure why he felt an uneasiness when John mentioned going in. He went to the coffee area to get Randy his drink while John headed for the coolers.